Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Most Enjoyable Film for the Whole Family., 22 Mar 2007
I cannot understand why film distributors gave this excellent family action film such poor exposure in cinemas worldwide. I saw 'Stormbreaker' in my local multiplex and immediately told two friends how much I had enjoyed it, returning with them to see it again the next day. We three septuagenarians (two of us retired high school teachers) agreed that it was the best action movie for young people in a very long time, and that it also had the rare quality of being thoroughly enjoyable to adults. We also greatly enjoyed the many aerial and ground level views of London, a city familiar to all three of us. Alex Pettyfer, whom we had previously seen in 'Tom Brown's Schooldays', acquits himself very well indeed, and the humorous overtones of the 'Batman' grotesques and the reactions of the cartoon characters on the background TV screens during violent action sequences will reassure those youngsters who might otherwise take them too seriously. I have enjoyed the Harry Potter films, but I consider this adaptation by the author of the original Alex Rider book series to be very much more suitable for family viewing. As the DVD had not then been released in Australia, I imported the UK version and lent it to a young friend who works with me in a heritage cinema staffed by volunteers. He loved it, paying it the compliment of making it the subject of his next school essay. 'Stormbreaker' stands head and shoulders above the American pap passing for humorous childrens' movies which crosses our screen during school holidays. Buy the DVD and watch it often with your children.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best thing I've watched in a while, 7 Sep 2006
I took my children to watch this, with no prior knowledge of the themes of the movie. I would best describe it as a "teenage James Bond" character with appeal for all ages, from about seven up. It is slicker than most of the other "teen hero" movies on offer, and appeals to adults more than a lot of the other films I've watched with the kids. And of course, with a proportion of British cast, and set in London and Cornwall, there is the added bonus of some familiar homegrown footage.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bond for Teenagers, 25 Aug 2007
An efficiently crafted junior Bond clone, this should keep the teenagers amused, and maybe, just maybe have enough excitement in there to keep the grown ups from getting too restless.
Alex Ryder has grown up in the care of his uncle (Ewan Macgregor) - when his uncle dies, Alex finds out he was actually a spy, and all those extracurricular activitie (hang gliding, martial arts, mountain climbing etc) were actually covert training. So, with a little more training with the SAS, MI6 recruits Alex to take his uncle's place.
The plot itself has holes big enough to drive a truck through, involving a sinister plan to place computers in all the schools in the UK and get them to unleash a virus. Not, as it happens, for world domination or gross extortion, but just for revenge for being bullied at school.
On the plus side, Alex Pettyfer is faultless in the role, bringing a credibility to the idea of a 14 year old fit enough to tackle the role of spy in the Bond mould. Bill Nighy is quirky in the role of his MI6 boss, but all other roles are tired and stereotyped to the extreme, not least Mickey Rourke who is so heavily made up as to appear like an advert for Max Factor. Every single woman's role is two dimensional and almost superfluous, but a series of cameos (Ewan Macgregor, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry), help nurture the idea that this is a worthwhile event movie. Having the UK as a background for a movie of this nature is a pleasant change, and the British acting talent involved help emphasise that.
But for all you adults considering a purchase, don't expect a Bond replacement - this is strictly for the kids. But if they are the ones you are aiming to please, this might well do the trick.
4/10, nudged up to 3 stars for the cameos and locations.
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